উইকিপিডিয়া:Bangla script display and input help

Wikipedia heavily uses diverse scripts from numerous languages. It has adopted Unicode (UTF-8) as the "encoding" scheme for its websites. In order to view this Bangla version of Wikipedia, you need to have your computer set up to see web pages encoded in Unicode Bangla scripts. To do this, you need to have a Unicode capable browser and Unicode Bangla fonts. Modern browsers following open web standards like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome and current versions of Internet Explorer support viewing Bangla scripts (and indic scripts in general) once you have enabled unicode support in your operating system and installed the fonts.

Check for existing support

The following image shows you how a correctly enabled computer will render the Bangla script:

The following line of text shows how your computer renders the above line:
ক + ি → কি

If the rendering on your computer matches the rendering on the image, then you have already enabled complex text support for Bangla and should be able to view text correctly in Bangla script. To edit such text you need to install the appropriate keyboard software on your operating system.

Go to control panel -> Regional and Language Options -> Language, and check the "Install files for complex scripts and right-to-left languages" option. You will need your Windows XP SP2 installer CD to install these new files.

If you want to change to a favorite Bangla Unicode font for your webpages:

For Firefox 1.5: Go to Tools -> Options -> Content tab -> Advanced... in the Fonts and colors section. In the pop up window titled "Fonts", select Bengali from the "Fonts for:" pulldown Menu and set a Bengali font of your choice for various kinds of fields like Serif, Sans Serif, Monospace, etc. to be shown on webpages.

For Opera 9: Go to Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced tab -> Fonts>International fonts>choose bangla from drop down list. Select the Bangla font of your choice. In most cases,opera automatically detects unicode support if you have it in your operating system and have installed the correct fonts, so you may not require the steps above.

Download and install any Bangla input interface software from the list provided near the end of this article.

Follow the help guide/manual that comes with the applications for instructions on how to input Bangla. You should be able to input anywhere you need to type bangla provided the application is unicode compliant. Ideally, you should also be able to input Bengali directly into the edit window of this wiki in your browser.

Windows 95, 98, ME and NT

These operating systems contain no support for indic scripts (combined letters) and thus no support for Bangla script. However, downloading Internet Explorer 6.0, Opera (9 or later) or Mozilla Firefox (you need version 2.0 or later!) should enable you to view Bangla scripts on these operating systems. If after downloading the appropriate browser you still cannot view Indic scripts please install an appropriate Unicode Bangla font. To input Bangla scripts, you can use web/browser based tools noted below in this article.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Bangla script support is automatically enabled.

Viewing

You do not need to do anything to enable viewing of Bangla text.

Inputting

You can use any unicode compliant standard input methods.

Mac OS X

Unicode support is built into Mac OS X (Cocoa based applications).

Viewing

You need to download and install Bangla Unicode fonts for Mac. You can download some of them from Ekushey.Org. You can use Safari, Firefox 3.0 or later browser.

Inputting

To input Bangla you have to download Bangla keyboard layouts. You can download some of the layouts from Ekushey.Org.

Linux with Gnome Desktop

Viewing

You do not need to do anything to enable viewing of Indic text in Gnome 2.8 or later. Ensure you have Bangla Unicode fonts.

Inputting

Go to Applications > Preferences > Keyboard.

Select the "Layouts" tab.

Select the keyboard for the language or script you wish to use from the "Available Layouts" frame and then press "Add".

Press "Close" to discard the dialog box.

Right click on the main menu on your desktop and select "Add to Panel...".

Select "Keyboard Indicator" and click "Add".

Position the keyboard indicator on your menu bar and click it to switch between keyboard layouts.

Linux with KDE Desktop

Viewing

You do not need to do anything to enable viewing of Indic text. Ensure you have Unicode Bangla fonts.

Inputting

In the Control Center, go to Regional & Accessibility, Keyboard Layout

In the tab Layout, click on Enable keyboard layouts

Choose the layouts you want to use in Available layouts

Click on Apply

Now, you will have an icon for the KDE Keyboard Tool in your panel, in which you can change between the various keyboard layouts you have selected before

Locations of free unicode bangla fonts (alphabetically)

Lohit fonts project - Lohit fonts are a set of 11 fonts for indic scripts, including Bangla/Bengali. They are available on most current Linux distributions. However, package names may differ, e.g. ttf-fonts-indic for Debian and Ubuntu/Kubuntu, fonts-indic for Gentoo and Fedora.

Modified Vrinda font

Font Fixer Software

Font fixer is a free tool developed by VistaArc and hosted by OmicronLab. This software can modify the default bengali font settings in Windows XP/Vista/7. It is accompanied with the Avro Keyboard software package.